Penny's Not a Reliable Source

Hi, everyone! This episode was a lot about all of our new endeavors and it was nice to see what everyone is working on.

First of all, major congrats to Kathy and her delicious cannoli kits! If you haven’t tried them, you must. She pulled off a great event at Dylan’s Candy Bar. My kids would be happy to live there from now on. Joe can’t get enough of the Slippery Nipples, of course, LOL! We had a blast at Kathy’s event and are always here to support her.

And congratulations to Teresa for the launch her of Skinny Italian Foods line. I’ve tried the pastas and they are so delish!

Jacqueline’s speech at the autism fundraiser had us all crying. Not a dry eye on the entire basketball court. It took a lot of courage for her to stand up and tell Nicholas’ story. She was brave and delivered her speech beautifully.

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I’m glad you got to see the lunch with my mother-in-law. It was nice having all of us together and it definitely felt like we were becoming a family again. And for those of you asking, yes of course I hugged and kissed my mother-in-law hello.

Finally, you get to meet my music manager Johnny Wright! I have to admit, my nerves got the better of me when I was singing "Never Let Me Go" in my studio for Johnny and Justin Thorne, the songwriter and producer. Johnny is the real deal. He’s worked with Britney, ‘N Sync, Justin Timberlake, Akon, and The Jonas Brothers. I really wanted to impress him. The fact that he’s interested in me at all was so exciting -- and terrifying. I had a lot riding on that recording session. It got better once I got over my nerves, trust me, or he would have walked out and never looked back.

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When Johnny suggested my going to Orlando for vocal coaching, I was all for it. I’d never had any formal training and have just used what I’ve got. I’ll take any expert advice I can get! My attitude is, I’m grateful for every minute of Johnny’s guidance. I’m happy to learn and ready to go! Thanks, Johnny and Justin, for your faith in me. One last thing in this episode: the talk with Penny. Joe and I thought we were going out to a nice dinner. I had no idea she’d be there. We were just as surprised as you were to see her sitting at the bar.

During our talk, I tried to act like a lady. I don’t come at anyone guns blazing. That’s not how you get anywhere in life. Penny was pretty open with us about who she’d been talking to about me, but she is hardly a reliable source. As you can see I was very skeptical about her. I asked my questions and she gave me her answers. Whether those answers were just another flat out lie, we didn’t know. There was Penny’s side and Teresa’s side. The truth was probably somewhere in the middle.

Penny’s news that night wasn’t earth-shattering for Joe and me. When I decided I was going to let go of the past issues with Teresa, I pretty much knew what I was moving on from.

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It all comes out in good time in the upcoming episodes. Keep watching to see how everything plays out.

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Here’s a link to the finished version of "Never Let Me Go". I’m so happy with how it turned out. I absolutely love this song!

And finally, Love Italian Style will officially hit bookshelves everywhere tomorrow! I can’t believe it’s actually here. I will be doing book signings every night for the next few weeks. I’m coming to Mendham, Northvale, Freehold, Ridgewood, Glassboro, Atlantic City, Toms River, Penns Grove, Franklin Lakes, and Pemberton in New Jersey; Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Huntington in New York; Bethlehem and Skytop in Pennsylvania; and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. I hope to see you at one of them!